Graphic Novelist Gene Luen Yang: Stories Are Mirrors, Windows to Life

Graphic Novelist Gene Luen Yang: Stories Are Mirrors, Windows to Life

Growing up, graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang said it was rare to find stories about Asian Americans in American media — an experience that contributed to the publication of his award-winning 2006 graphic novel "American Born Chinese."

"Stories have two different purposes," Yang told NBC News, citing a quote he'd heard before. "One, stories act as a window into somebody else's life; and the second one is they act as a mirror into your own. And I think that needs to be true for everybody — every aspect of American society, every corner of American society has to have stories that are mirrors and stories that are windows."

Gene Luen Yang will be inaugurated Thursday, Jan. 7, 2015, as the 5th National Ambassador for Young People's Literature.Albert Law

"Life Stories" is part of "NBC Asian America Presents...," a new video channel that will feature documentaries centered around themes and voices found in Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.